Yarn With Zwaan

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Welcome to week two and shout out to those of you who lasted the first week without skipping class.

Last week, I fulfilled my lifelong goal of being a dragon. Last Thursday I was on the panel of judges in the CapApp challenge ‘Dragons’ Den’. The challenge was for teams to come up with ideas for an app that will better connect students with our city.

Out of the six finalists who faced off the panel of judges, Sesame won.

Sesame is an awesome concept that lets its users tag locations around Wellington that your friends can visit to open pictures, videos, music or other messages. It’s a great way for you to connect with our wonderful city and to help your friends do the same. I’m looking forward to seeing it on the app store soon!

This competition is a great example of how VUWSA and the university can work together with the creative side of our city to enhance the connections our students have with Wellington.

While this app will help build that connection, it’s only one part of a broader strategy to see how we can make Wellington a city that truly values students.

Being the science student I am, I did bit of maths last week and found that us Vic students contribute about $650m directly into the Wellington economy each year. I’m sure some economic students can do a far more robust calculation with fancy multipliers and things to find the true monetary value we bring, but on the face of it, it’s rather significant and the city and regional councils need to doing more to recognise this.

The decision by Greater Wellington Regional Council to cut the number 18 bus route, as covered in last week’s issue, is a clear example of how out of touch they are with the people they represent. As students we pay a shit tonne in rent and part of that goes to the council in rates. We deserve not only to be listened to, but for proactive policies to be implemented to make the city and region a better place for us. VUWSA will continue to work hard this year to make sure that happens.

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